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Here are my Best Diet Tips:

1. Plan to be on a diet the rest of your life. Did you ever notice how some thin people always talk about dieting?   That’s why they are thin, because they work at it constantly.  You must plan to be on a diet the rest of your life. Not necessarily a weight reducing diet your whole life... obviously at some point you’ll want to just maintain your weight.  But - you need to continue good healthy eating choices from here on out... and not slip back to old ways.
    
2. Take it slow.  Don’t be in a hurry to lose weight. If you follow tip #1 above, this won’t be a problem.  Go for 1 or 2 pounds a week. Slow weight loss is healthier, is more likely to be permanent, and is so much easier to sustain over the long haul. And if you need to lose 100 pounds like me, it’s a long haul!
    
3. Don’t Get Discouraged. If you go a week, or two, or even three, without losing a pound - don’t worry!   Any week that you do not gain weight is a successful week in my book.  And don’t get discouraged by the constant up-down-up-down-up-down-down pattern of your weight.   Here’s a typical month of daily weights in my diet.
    
4. Don’t eat after dinner.  Make it a rule to not eat after dinner.  Evening munchies was one of my biggest weight gain problems.  The way I broke this habit: whenever I want to munch at night, I make myself a cup of decaff earl grey tea with some splenda and a little whole milk. Find a satisfying low cal beverage that you enjoy (without sugar or carbs). I think the warm tea and the small amount of milk help curb any  hunger pangs. Other ideas are: decaff regular tea, decaff coffee, or sugar free hot cocoa. I don’t think diet coke would help as much as a warm beverage.
    
5. Write it down! Keep a food diary and write down every calorie or point or carb (or whatever it is you are counting!).  It’s amazing how quickly the calories add up!  Even if you cheat and snitch a spoonful of cookie dough or a bite of someone else’s cake. Write it down.  
    
6. Get Sweaty! Work up a sweat at least six hours a week.  Six days a week you should try and workout to the point where you are sweaty for 1 hour. It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you do it regularly. Find something you enjoy and keep doing it until it becomes a habit.  Ideas: go for a walk, get a treadmill, aerobic workout DVDs, join a gym, go swimming, go for a bike ride, take a spinning class...the sky’s the limit! (Please be sure to check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.)
    
7. Only Eat in the Kitchen. Do not eat in front of the TV or computer.  Only eat at the kitchen table.
    
8. Drink lots of Water. Drink lots and lots of water...at least 8 full glasses per day.  Add a slice of lemon to spruce it up.   Often, we think we are hungry when really, we are just thirsty.  So, next time you head for the fridge, grab some water first and see if that does it for you.
    
9. Veggies and Dip. Keep fresh cut vegetables handy and munch on them when you are cooking dinner to avoid munching on fattening foods. This will benefit the whole family! Choose a low carb ranch dip to dip them in. I like to use Naturally Fresh Lite Ranch, available in the produce section of the grocery store.
    
10. Don’t eat When you are Stressed. Find another way to relieve stress.  A warm bath, a hot cup of tea, a nice long walk....anything besides eating!
     
11. Cut out the Sugar and Refined Carbs.   Sugar and Carbs make you crave more of them. Cutting them out really helps you not be so hungry.
     
12. Listen to your body. Don’t eat unless you are truly hungry.  If you pig out one day, don’t eat the next meal until you are hungry again. 
     
13. Stay Busy. If you’re anything like me, you are sitting at your computer avoiding work, housework, yardwork, exercise, etc.    Housework burns more calories than sitting on your duff! Just go do it - whatever it is you are avoiding!
     

14. Several people have written to me objecting to this “Spitting out” tip.  I only do this a few times per year, generally around the holidays when I am tempted by treats.  I do it as a reaction to stuffing something into my mouth that I immediately realize I don’t want.  As a test, just to see what it was like, I tired this as a planned thing. I put a cookie in my mouth and chewed it up, then spit it out. It was totally unsatisfying.

    Spit it out. (use this tip with caution) Have you ever been tempted by cookies or chips, and put some in your mouth, and then immediately regret it? When this happens to me, I spit it out (only if I am in a private place such as my home, of course). I figure I’m not committed to calories until I have swallowed them.  And spitting out that first bite of bad food can nip the binge in the bud.
    (Please note, I am only advocating spitting food out that you have not yet swallowed.  I am not advocating Bulimia, which is when you have swallowed the food, and then force yourself to throw it up. If you have ever forced yourself to throw up after eating too much, do not use this tip.  If you are currently making yourself throw up after eating too much, please see a doctor right away. Bulimia is a life threatening illness.)
    
15. Purging after a binge. (use this tip with caution) Some days, especially holidays or family get-togethers, I eat way too much and feel horrible and bloated.  To get past this feeling, I take Philips Milk of Magnesia laxative that night. The next morning, all that extra food is purged out of my gut.  Also, that next day, I make sure to get in a good workout...jogging, biking, swimming, etc.   That helps burn off all the extra glucose charging through my veins. These two things help me get rid of that bloated, gross feeling I get from overeating. 
    (Please note that using laxatives in this way can be addicting, so you can only do this once in a while. I only do it about five times per year.  If you have ever abused laxatives in the past, or think might be prone to laxative abuse, do not use this tip!)

    Several people have written to me objecting to this “Purging” tip.   I don’t do this any more, as I now take a daily supplement to keep me ‘regular’. (Nature’s Bounty Acidophilus with Bifidus, available at CVS; or eat one serving of Dannon’s Activa yogurt). I only ever did it a few times per year, generally around the holidays when tempted by treats.  I only used Philips Milk of Magnesia (MOM). I NEVER took a laxative pill, as that would have been too easy to make into a bad habit.   The MOM stuff tastes so gross that it is not tempting to do it very often. Also, part of the reason I felt bloated after overeating, was that I was eating poor quality foods with little fiber, leaving me constipated. So, I actually needed the MOM. Again, use this with caution, and only use MOM!